Board restores school money

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published 8:00 pm, Tuesday, April 12, 2005

That restoration will raise the tax rate more than finance board members wanted but comes in response to concerns expressed by parents over possible cuts in teachers and sports. At a public hearing on the budget last month, dozens of residents asked for a restoration of the $1.2 million.
"We felt we wanted to give comfort to parents who felt sports would be cut or teachers laid off," said finance board Chairman Kevin Cleary.
He said the $200,000 restoration plus a $180,000 savings on health insurance for school staff gives the school board enough money to keep sports and teachers.
But the decision on what to keep and what to cut - music programs also are among the possible reductions - lies with the school board. Even with the restoration, there will still be cuts and the school board likely will decide on those reductions by the end of April, school board Chairman Matt Knickerbocker said.
"We will try to minimize the impact on students and preserve the core of our programs that we've put in place in the past few years," Knickerbocker said.
He thanked the finance board for the $200,000 restoration but added, "I would liked to have seen twice as much."
In late February, the school board requested a $3 million increase in its 2005-2006 budget. But when the finance board in early March reduced that figure by $1.2 million, the school board said any initiatives, including additional teachers at Bethel High School, were out and that some existing staff and programs would be cut.
The $200,000 restoration was made Monday at the finance board's regular monthly meeting. There was no restoration of the $500,000 cut from the $1.3 million increase requested by selectmen in their municipal budget.
Under the finance board's recommended budget for the 2005-2006 fiscal year, school and municipal expenses as well as debt service comes to $53.6 million. It is a 6.9 percent increase over the current $50.2 million budget.
The $3.4 million jump translates to a 6.5 percent tax rate increase, which is half a percent higher than the finance board originally wanted. If residents approve the budget, a homeowner whose house is assessed at $200,000 and pays $5,096 in real estate taxes would pay $5,428 in the fiscal year that begins on July 1, an increase of $332.
Next step is for the recommended budget to go to a town meeting on May 2 and a referendum in mid May. Cleary hopes the $53.6 million package will be successful.
"The first budget is always the best budget," he said.
But Billy Michael, chairman of the taxpayer watchdog group Bethel Action Committee, said the recommended budget is too high, especially for older Bethel residents on a fixed income. "They did an admirable job in carving back on the school side, but people in the twilight of their working years find the annual tax increase unaffordable," he said.
Under the recommended budget, the school budget is $33.5 million, or a 6.5 percent increase over the current $31.4 million budget. The municipal budget is $15.5 million, a 5 percent spending increase over the present municipal budget of $14.7 million.
Debt service is up 19.5 percent from the present $3.6 million to $4.3 million in the coming fiscal year.